Mother Necessity
by Ivanoma
Summary: based on e-dowley's Ffic OUT OF NECESSITY ...this is an AU. Evelyn never had a normal relationship in her life. She brings new meaning to the term "love-hate relationship"
1. Seven Years Ago

The following story is a fanfiction of a fanfiction. This means it s an AU of an AU. Transformers belongs to Hasbro and the rest to e-dowley. Please read Out of Necessity before reading this... other fanon tidbits from various forgotten sources are also included.

Mother Necessity

Chapter 1 Seven Years Ago

Ratchet, Chief Medical Officer of the Autobots, was pretty sure that the young woman on his table was going to die. Even Barricade, the former Decepticon, who had carried her unconscious body directly to him once _again_, probably thought so... if one were to judge by his silence when he turned her over this time compared to his threats in the event of failure last time. Evelyn's wounds were septic, but there was hardly any bruising. He'd gotten her fever down right away but the iron in her blood had been commandeered as part of the one thing the parasite had successfully built so far: a skeletal frame for an empty spark casing right next to her heart. In a weird, convoluted way, it made sense. The parasite was starving, and Eve presently had no need to ingest energon. If she were rebuilt as a functioning Cybertronian, she might seek the life-giving fluid of his people and provide the necessary fuel to bring more parasites online. Evelyn was already operating with a minimal amount of blood and her organs were failing from damage caused by its movements. If the parasite started to deconstruct them, Eve would soon die. Ratchet, however, had one option left to him.

Ratchet examined the recovered remains of the seeker found at the location he now knew to have been where the parasite had been found. He shuddered mentally at the thought of what might have happened had a mech been the one to reach the source of the signal first. A scraplet epidemic was no joke. Ratchet made sure none of the small pieces of Cybertronian metal he cut off the dead mech had the slightest bit of energon on them before processing them to be injected into Eve. As long as the scraplet had better materials to work with, Eve was relatively safe. Ratchet set his diagnostic scanners to display a real-time image of the scraplet's progress in construction. In a matter of hours, however, Ratchet would be forced to provide yet more raw material for its work.

Ratchet was forced to watch the parasite's progress very closely for the next two weeks on his monitoring equipment, forgoing recharge to a degree that would kill a human. The scraplet had completed the spark chamber and was busy building some sort of neural net to interface a complete processor to parts of Evelyn's brain. Her brain was under a great deal of compression from having to share space with both the scraplet and the processor. Were she conscious, she would almost certainly be screaming her agony. If Eve survived, her memory and calculating ability would become par with a Cybertronian newborn, a sparkling. It would be a vast improvement on her organic brain, but Ratchet couldn't help but wonder if Eve would still be Eve when all was said and done. The human brain was chaotic at best and any means the creature had of transferring her memory data to the processor was likely imperfect. If Barricade noticed the change he might presume that the woman he knew was dead and act accordingly. Ratchet was running calculations on how much time the scraplet had to live when Ironhide sidled up behind him to peer at the monitor over his shoulder.

"Is that what I think it is?" The weapons master sounded surprised.

It didn't matter if he was asking about the supposedly extinct parasite or the obviously Cybertronian spark chamber or newly forming processor. Ratchet's answer was an affirmative grunt in any case.

Ironhide understood the vague answer anyway. Evelyn, the human, had close to zero chance of coming out of this. Even he could run the odds through his own processor. They might get a techno-organic newborn if they only still had the all-spark. A new life to ease the tragedy of her loss, but without it, they were only likely to get an unresponsive shell with Eve s face.

"It isn't looking good, is it?" Ironhide asked, hopelessly.

The exhausted medic again answered in the affirmative. "She s been in a coma for two and a half weeks,"

"Perhaps it would be a kindness if we put her out of her misery?"

It was a mark of how bleak the situation was that Ironhide didn't get a dent in his cranial plating for even suggesting it. He found it shocking when Ratchet implied he had already thought of that course of action. Ironhide turned the conversation to Barricade but that was temporary, at best. The subject of discussion focused on Evelyn once more, and Ironhide left the doctor to his work.

As more time passed, Ratchet was amazed as metallic organs came online one by one, restoring Eve's condition closer to stable with each successive replacement. Her new heart was much smaller than the last...all her new parts were. They worked more efficiently and took up much less space. There were also several _new_ components that Ratchet was sure he only recognized most of due to his age and profession. Some of those upgrades were now extinct. What _was_ a budding drive anyway? The medic was forced to manually shut down several nascent functions for Evelyn's own good. Some of that coding didn't belong on an organic and would likely kill her if activated accidentally. Ratchet carefully kept track of her steady gain in mass. Any loss would indicate that the parasite might be deconstructing her. Throughout all this, visitors tracked in and out of his med bay. Robert Epps and Will Lennox were present when such an alarming and sudden decrease occurred.

"What s wrong? " Epps questioned the visibly agitated CMO.

"I was monitoring her body mass in case that thing inside her starts to break-down what it built. Any loss of mass is supposed to set off an alarm, the medic paused as he checked the readouts, this makes no sense! Every bit of material of every basic element is accounted for, but she still seems to have lost about twenty-one grams somewhere!" The medic checked another monitor that showed Evelyn s entire interior where the creature was now busily working on converting her extremities and stopped as what he now saw was impossible.

The two humans exchanged a significant look. Epps decided to offer his thoughts on the matter. "Some people think that 21 grams is the approximate weight of a human soul."

Ratchet noted the remark, but didn't respond. It only made sense given what he now saw. Evelyn's soul had been converted to pure energy to form the Cybertronian equivalent: a spark! None of the basic elements currently found in her body could convert to a sufficient amount of energy necessary for a spark to form. If the human soul had mass, but was otherwise undetectable to Ratchet's sensors, then it was the only available explanation. Who knew what a soul was made of anyway. It even had the correct pulse measurements for a true seeker femme. Both seekers and femmes were equally rare. A spark that was both was a treasure to the people of Cybertron. This was a freaking act of Primus and the doctor knew better than to try to explain it. Ratchet shooed away the human soldiers and called Prime to come in for an update. He arrived with Stealth a few minutes before Evelyn regained consciousness.

She wasn't up for very long before Ratchet had to sedate her for her own good, not that the young woman noticed. The old mech described in better detail to his leader what was going on.

"The parasite has coding, not only from the mech it was made from, but the mechs that were deconstructed to form the parasites that preceded it. There is probably even a Prime in there somewhere! It is using all this code along with that of this dead 'con here and what it has learned of human anatomy to build a completely new body. This is completely opposite of its original function so I suspect the so called human scientists may have tinkered and tampered with its basic programming. She has upgrades that died out vorns ago...I had to disconnect her new transformation circuits to prevent the destruction of her remaining organic parts. If that had activated, her left limbs and skin might have been ripped loose...and made a mess." Ratchet paused to see if Optimus was following along and continued when his leader hummed in understanding, "for all intents and purposes, though, she is effectively Cybertronian. Her...spark... is consistent with an adult femme _and_ a new-sparked seeklet. You are aware that seekers are flightless the first few thousand years?" Ratchet waited for Prime's nod."If she remains stable she might upgrade to a larger frame, a flighted one, and become a full seeker. Her other aspects make her spark maturity more difficult to determine. Most likely, it is due to her origins as a human. She is an adult femme because she was a woman grown, but a mere seeklet because that aspect of her new self is all-new coding to her."

Optimus nodded, "That is for the best." he said wisely, "Evelyn Grey needs that time to grow into what she has become, but it would be an insult to tear away what she has already earned in life. I trust you, Ratchet, to preserve what is important to her well-being. Good luck, old friend." Prime then turned and left before Ratchet could properly process his use of the word "old".

Three weeks later, Ratchet was a happier medic. The scraplet had died only days after Eve had come-to and had her panic attack. While her distress could potentially cause her to harm herself, Her words upon waking had made it obvious that she had retained at least some of her mind. Immediately after the parasite's death, Ratchet boosted Evelyn's self-repair systems with his own nanites. His CNA would complete what remained of the seeker's CNA and stabilize Eve to a point where she could function. It amused him slightly that this technically made her his creation, or, as humans understood the term, her father. Today, Ratchet had just confirmed that her personality and memories were fully intact despite the fact that she only had the parts of her brain that controlled automatic functions Her ability to sense touch on her organic skin and motor controls for her left side. If Ratchet thought for a nano-second that she would approve, he would have fabricated limbs to match the ones on her left side and armor to replace her integumentary system. Humans were, however, unusually attached to their frailties. They assigned a ridiculous amount of their identity to their body parts in a way Cybertronians never did. Ratchet, himself, had had to replace most of his own body in the course of war. However, for Eve's mental health, he was forced to preserve the remainder of her human body: less than thirty percent, but it would have to be enough. Nevertheless, Ratchet submitted his medical report with a lighter spark just as Eve finally came online.


	2. I Hate Everything You

The following story is a fanfiction of a fanfiction. This means it s an AU of an AU. Transformers belongs to hasbro and the rest to e-dowley. Please read Out of Necessity before reading this... other fanon tidbits from various forgotten sources are also included.

Chapter 2

I Hate Everything About You

(Three years after the formation of the neutral faction)

The afternoon found the entire neutral base engaged in Commander Barricade's mandatory physical training sessions. Those who had already gone several rounds were now watching the last match of the day. Once again it came down to Barricade and their leader, the cyborg Evelyn Grey. It had taken three years, but all agreed that there was no shame in losing to the little femme (who was not to be confused with the littler femme, Buzzsaw)especially as she could fight on nearly equal terms with the fractious cruiser. Today's was particularity intense, and, as usual, charged with a _very _personal sort of tension between the two.

"Why is it," Scavenged asked no one in particular, "every time I see them do this, I want to either give them their privacy or tell them to get a room?" he finished as most of the rest muffled their laughter.

Knockout hummed in agreement. "I also wish they'd get it over with and interface. It can't be good for them to continue on like this and I confess myself curious to see how much _training_ Barricade has actually given her. I can't be the only one who's seen him sneak out of her quarters on the odd early morning, or come to find his own quarters quite empty...all night long"

"But,..."Scavenge sputtered, shuddering, "her torso is covered in flesh. So I thought there was no spark access."

"Who is the medic here, me or you?" Knockout seemed offended, " her bone structure is inorganic...including her breast strut- or sternum. Just like you or me she has seams where the metal comes apart. I can definitely confirm her chest is designed to open at the right medical command...or with a sufficient level of arousal,...just as ours are. She just hasn't done it yet."

"How do you know that?"Scavenge asked surprised. "Can medic's tell if a mech or femme have 'faced before or not?

"No," the medic smirked, "but human chest cavities are _not_ designed to open, so when hers does for the first time I guarantee that we will hear her scream for miles."

" So the femme can ' face?" Nightflight asked as the others' laughter quieted.

"If you ask out of more than mere curiosity," Buzzsaw said slyly, "you might wish to keep in mind, that while Barricade hasn't claimed her officially, he won't take kindly to poachers...even if she doesn't take that mech seriously."

"Yes," Knockout grinned, "Every time I flirt with her, he looks like he wants to get his claws around my spark..or at least more so than usual. I have never seen him this attached to _anyone_. It seems to be mutual too. When Barricade was in stasis, on the verge of death, Eve was physically incapable of sleeping unless she could hear his spark with her own audios. It was quite adorable, really. Big, bad Barricade asleep with the little fem curled up on his chest. The autobots found it quite amusing. I don't supposed anyone besides me has spotted him following her around nearly everywhere she goes?"

"I have." Buzzsaw confirmed, "We might have an actual bonding before long, I think. Less than a vorn, I'll wager."

"No bet," Knockout shook his head.

The conversation ended with another victory from Barricade, quicker this time than was usual. The entire group headed back for their energon ration as Knockout thoughtfully observed his leader. Eve was tiring earlier than usual, these days despite increasingly more recharge time and even increased fuel consumption. Eve usually had less energon than anybot else, even Buzzsaw who was much smaller. Lately the base's lack of a supply of natural energon had even necessitated giving her a little synthetic energon in its undiluted form, which was supposed to be enough to get her over-charged, at _least._ Not all of it could be explained by the newly activated weaponry in her right arm, and the rest of her energy-hungry systems were medically shut down by Ratchet, himself. Oddly, despite her increased appetite and longer recharge cycles, she still looked like slag most of the time. Making a rather professional medical decision, Knockout moved Eve up on the maintenance roster. Knockout then told her to show up as if he were just reminding her of a long-standing appointment. Evelyn simply agreed, too tired to try to figure out if it really was time for her check-up. Knockout repressed a shudder as Barricade glared menacingly at him.

Barricade's appointment was usually right after hers, and he knew it was nowhere near long enough since the last exam for her to be going back. After the others entered the hanger for fueling, Barricade savagely grabbed the medic stopping him from doing the same and threw him several yards. Knockout scrambled to his feet as Barricade slowly sauntered over.

"You better not be trying to 'play doctor', Doctor," Barricade growled furiously, "Or else I might decide to play surgeon."

"Easy, killer," Knockout placated him, "I wouldn't have changed her appointment where you could hear in that case. Haven't you notice her increased fuel intake and odd recharge cycles?"

"Neither are outside acceptable parameters with her current level of operation." Barricade argued.

"Individually, no they are not," the medic agreed, "But her doing both simutaneously is indicative of an underlying problem. Despite both of these, she is still looking run-down lately. If the problem is with her internal energon refinement not able to keep up with the undiluted energon, or even a simple glitch in her energy allocation processors, it needs to be addressed quickly or her systems, much more delicate and fussy than ours, will be at risk for burn-out."

Barricade, unable to find fault, snarled, "I wish to be present when you examine her." He glowered at Knockout's decidedly unsurprised expression.

"Just show up when she does," Knockout agreed.

888

Paperwork, Barricade decided, was why corrupt officials stayed in power. If the insignificant peons were to rise up and take power, they would have to take the paperwork too. Right now he was checking and signing off on energon stores. Inventory was a pain in the aft, but at least the neutral faction _had_ energon stores. He remembered all too well how tired and worn-out he had become before Eve helped him liberate some from the oblivious hands of human government officials. Barricade had been so close to shut-down that he had forgone a massively energy-hungry hard-light holographic projection in favor of...well, _her._ Three years of running had probably made her pretty desperate for someone to talk to. It figured that that someone turned out to be a homicidal mechanical alien big enough to hold her in one clawed hand. Barricade didn't treat her _well_, exactly, It was more a matter of what he didn't _kill_ her over. His tolerance of her was well beyond what he had for many who he might have called an equal. His behavior was telling to any mech who had known him or even just heard of him in the last four million years- since the All-spark was launched from Cybertron. Eve had grown a great deal as a person in a very short time. She'd had to. For someone so small, she was very protective of the small group she led. Obviously, her femme-bot protocols (maternal instincts) were quite operational...A miracle given her status as easily the youngest in the neutral party.

Barricade finished verifying that the stockpile was accounted for and commed Eve. "Female, where are you?"

"Barricade...? I'm in the med-bay talking to Knockout. Why?" Eve asked, surprised.

"I'm coming over right now," Barricade practically snarled. No way was he leaving her alone with the slagging glitch. He'd kill her first.

He almost missed the days when other mechs were dismissive of his "pet" human. Her clear objection to the her assumed status never failed to be amusing. As a bonus, her presence had made the autobots back-off of him as long as he stayed away from the decepticon army. It had even recently gained him the expert care of their medic, who was as good as a creator to the little female.

Only one in every thirteen Cybertronians was a femme. This had been the norm since Solus Prime, the first femme and member of the original Primes. A femme-spark was uncommon. Even on Cybertron, where mech/mech relationships were common, femmes were highly sought after as partners. They didn't need to file aft-loads of paperwork and pass dozens of tests to gain the necessary approval to take an empty shell to the Cube and become a parent. Barricade had been femme-sparked, himself. Human society would have found it ironic that a fractious mech like him was one of the few who'd actually had a mother. Femmes could devote part of their self-repair system to building a sparkling based on coding from themselves and whoever they happened to be partnered to. Before the war, they usually confined their attentions to the more affluent mechs. An irony that the very people who had better resources for sparklings from official channels also had a near monopoly on the only relatively natural means of forming a family. It was one of the factors that was an underlying cause of their civil war.

Barricade was certain he didn't want a relationship, but he wasn't about to let anyone else have her either. They probably only saw her as a status symbol anyway. If only he could make Knockout stop flirting with her...or rip out his spark. Preferably the latter.

Barricade's alt-mode didn't screech to a stop until he was inside the building. Eve had an indifferent look on her face that he knew damn well he'd taught her himself. It made him want to tear that precious femme-spark out of her chest...see how indifferent she'd look after _that_. At least she wasn't joking around with Knockout, laughing at his half serious suggestions...again. He might really have done it then.

"What is it, Barricade?" Eve asked in a carefully bland tone.

Primus, but she was cute when she tried to sound authoritative. It made him want to stomp on her just to destroy all that cuteness. Barricade didn't, however, wish to let on to Eve that he'd asked to be here. Primus forbid she think he actually _cared._

"His exam is usually right after yours, remember?" Knockout lied casually.

Maybe Barricade wouldn't kill the pesky red medic just _yet._

"Now," Knockout began, business-like, "let's start with a deep scan. I want to know how you are handling the synthetic energon."

Barricade felt Eve shudder as her entire frame was sent tingling from Knockout's medical-grade sensor equipment. It wasn't at all reassuring when Knockout froze up momentarily with an expression of shock reminiscent of Prowl glitching-out fixed upon his face. Then, unaccountably, he started laughing.

"Well, it is a sign that we have been at war _far_ too long when a medic of my caliber sees symptoms like longer recharge cycles and increased fuel intake combined with fatigue and thinks only of burn-out." the medic smiled eerily at his leader, "Congratulations!"


	3. My Out There Prophecies of Doom

The following story is a fanfiction of a fanfiction. This means it s an AU of an AU. Transformers belongs to hasbro the chapter title to H.I.M. and the rest to e-dowley. Please read Out of Necessity before reading this... other fanon tidbits from various forgotten sources are also included. In this chapter we earn our "m" rating.

Mother Necessity

Chapter Three

My Out-There Prophecies Of Doom

Barricade was at a loss. He remained clueless even as Evelyn's eyes widened.

"No!" she protested, "That's not possible!"

"I can prove it if you don't mind my hooking a hard line into your port to medically over-ride your hatch closures."

"My what- and my _what?_" Eve asked confusedly as Barricade suddenly let our a furious roar.

Barricade still didn't really know what was going on, but if Knockout was asking for a _hard-line connection and access to Eve's spark chamber_, then his best guess was that Knockout was ready to_ die. _In less than a second, he had the medical menace pinned by the neck on the wall of the far side of the room. Fury painted in the harsher than normal red glow of his distinctive optics.

Slagger!" Barricade shrieked at the understandably terrified mech.

"Barricade! Eve shouted,"Stand down! Knockout has just implied that I am going to be a mother. At least hold off killing him until He explains what the _fuck_ is going on!"

Barricade dropped the medic feeling as if his logic processors were being fried, "Elucidate!" Barricade growled darkly at the panicked medic.

Knockout quickly collected his wits and began to explain. "Despite her human origins, Eve is a mature femme." Knockout hastily transposed his sensor readings to a holographic display...complete with labels. The medic indicated to two of these, "These readings here indicate she is both femme and seeker. Usually it takes about the same amount of time for the seeker aspects to grow in power enough to support the larger flighted frame as for the spark to stabilize enough to be considered mature. However, stability is psychological and power only comes with time. Because you reached human adulthood, you achieved stability much, _much_ sooner than strength. In fact, you were likely sparked a mature femme, but only time passed will allow your spark to grow into a seeker adult. So,...yes it's _very_ possible you could be carrying a new spark despite being not yet able to fly."

"But I still don't understand how I actually conceived without sex or whatever you guys have instead,...wait _fly?_"

"Yes, you'll likely be the sanest seeker ever. Not that that is saying much." Knockout added humorously.

Barricade snorted but reminded the medic to get to the point.

"Alright, I didn't expect to have to give you the talk, I really think Ratchet should have done it years ago..." Knockout thought for a moment, "When you get to be in the proper mood, whether by physical stimulation or by a hardline neural stimulation...sometimes both if your adventurous, your hatch closures in your chest release and slide open, exposing your spark. And when you touch even just the corona of your spark to that of another, you become likely to conceive. Despite what any mech tells you merely holding off from _full_ spark merge isn't enough to keep from getting pregnant. A lot of young femmes learned that the _hard_ way before the war. Your spark used the energy from this to make a new spark that will piggy-back on yours until it is ready to move to the gestation chamber. This will drain your energy considerably because despite being stable, your spark is hardly what I'd call _strong_. The sparkling is drawing off your reserves which is why you never had as bad a reaction to the undiluted energon as we had expected. You are effectively eating for two."

"Wait..wait, I didn't even know I _had _a spark or that my chest could open up!" Eve cried out distressed, "How could I possibly be pregnant?"

Knockout was sure she just wasn't understanding him, "Well, when a mech and a femme love each other _very_ much..."

"Oh, fuck off!" Eve snarled.

"Yes, exactly!" Knockout agreed,snidely.

"I meant," Eve growled, "that I've never done that spark...thingy -_ever_, so how could I still get pregnant?"

Knockout paused, "I find that hard to believe with the evidence to the contrary staring us In the face. The new spark signature reads like yours and Commander Barricade's and _everyone_ knows he sometimes spends the entire recharge cycle in your quarters. Even _Jack_ knows."

Eve turned white. Barricade spoke in her defense, suddenly feeling irritatingly protective of her.

"We never interfaced, nor have we bared our sparks. We are simply in the habit of taking our recharge together."

Knockout nearly scoffed then paused to ask, "Do you recharge like you did back in Ratchet's medbay? With her sleeping on your chest, directly over your spark?"

Knockout didn't really need to hear Barricade's confirmation to draw his conclusion. It was the only solution to their question, "I think I realize how you got double-sparked, Eve." Knockout quickly wrote a program for his hologram to act as a visual aide. "These images represent you and Barricade sleeping as you have been seen to do so," the image zeroed in on an X-ray image of their sparks,"Here you can see how close your sparks truly are, less than five feet by _far_. Five feet being the maximum distance of the combined reach of each of your sparks' coronas." Knockout canceled the display. "Our armor is usually enough to block spark radiation, but you, Eve don't actually_ have_ armor. That is my working theory on how you got sparked-up. You just invented the cybertronian version of getting pregnant without actual intercourse, which even among humans is improbable but _not_ impossible."

"Okay." Barricade watched Eve swallow hard, "let's say your right and I am...double-sparked. How do I get rid of it? I'm really not ready to be a parent right now...not for a long time probably, if ever."

Knockout glanced at Barricade who now stood with his back-struts ramrod straight and his expression fixed in stoic impassiveness. The medic wondered if this was Barricade feeling strong emotion, and if so, for what?

"My professional opinion is that the sparkling is actually beneficial to your health while it continues to siphon excess energy that would otherwise be frying your circuits right now. Additionally, divorcing a new spark from that of its femme-creator is notoriously dangerous. You should at least wait until the sparkling moves from your spark-chamber to the gestation chamber. In your case, your...uterus." Knock said distastefully.

"And how long will that be?"Eve demanded.

"Not long, about eleven vorns."

"How long is a vorn?" Eve asked, annoyed.

"83 Earth years."

Evelyn blinked,"Oh... that's more time than I thought I had. If I do have the kid, how long after that?" Barricade stole a glance at her.

Knockout smiled, "Another century after that."

"I still want a second opinion."

Knockout nodded,"I will arrange for you to see Ratchet."

888

Barricade left with Eve watching her expressions shift. Even among decepticons, it was against core programming to kill ones' own offspring. Barricade suspected it was against human instincts, as well, but humans had spent eons ignoring their instincts. Core programming was absolute, though. Barricade understood that that was what was making him so much more protective of Evelyn than he was even a few breems ago. What a difference a sparkling made. Not even in the gestation chamber yet and already a pain in his aft. Barricade was disturbed from his own processes by a question from the mother of his future doom.

"Barricade, I really want to know what you think of our situation. Human abortion of unwanted pregnancies is a very controversial subject, but I don't know how Cybertronians feel about it. I'm not ready to be a parent right now, but_ right now_ isn't an issue. It'll be a freaking millennium before we have to change anything. I became who I am today in nearly exactly thirty years. That person might be long gone before another thirty passes. But you are more constant. You are so much surer of who you are than I am. You are also this child's father, and since I'm lost about what to do, I really want to know what you think I should do." Eve asked him desperately, panicking finally at the enormity of what was happening.

Barricade considered her barely contained hysteria.

"Cybertronians do not multiply with the ease that humans do. Our long life-spans go far to make that fact irrelevant, but the termination of a new life by the hand of its creator is beyond the ability of any of my kind. Our core programming, the Cybertronian equivalent to human instincts, actively prevent us. Even _Megatron_ would give the last particle of energon to a sparkling. Nevertheless, even Prime will tell you it is ultimately your choice alone to see it through to the end, or not. You didn't make a choice to carry in the first place and sparklings are a drain of valuable resources. If you choose not to carry, none of the others need ever know the new spark ever existed."

Eve stopped and turned to barricade,"that doesn't make me feel any better," she grumbled.

"If you wanted to feel better then you are talking to the _wrong_ mech," he replied giving her a look that seemed to question her intelligence.

"Oh, yeah." she smiled, but a sad look crept up on her face, "You don't think I should terminate." It wasn't a question.

"What I want is irrelevant. However, you need not decide right now. You can't take any action either way for more than nine-hundred human years, anyway."

"Can you imagine what sort of spawn you and I would produce?" Eve change the subject abruptly, smiling grimly. "The thought of another one of the two of us running around is both funny and scary as hell."

Imagining the sparkling would only serve to endear it to her. Barricade hesitated only a second. "Prime and Megatron had the exact same upbringing, and they are both quite different. We live too long to have our entire existence be _entirely _over-shadowed by the first few deca-vorns of our experiences. If you are wondering about inherited traits you also have coding from the autobot Ratchet. The sparkling might even pick up on _that_."

Evelyn paused, "That might actually be scarier."

Barricade laughed, harshly. "It is sometimes said that raising sparklings requires little more than patience and courage. Both are considered to be racial virtues. We have both time _and_ thick hides."

Eve smirked, "What do you think Ratchet's reaction is going to be?"

Barricade groaned, "He will assume that we've been interfacing. Most mechs do a great deal of it for recreation and seekers are particularly notorious for it."

"Why is that?" Eve was very interested.

"Most of our methods of 'hooking up' are incredibly pleasant to participate in. Seekers are known to do _everything_ in a group of three."

Barricade almost laughed as Eve eyes widened comically and her jaw dropped.

"_Seriously_?" Eve fairly shouted in shock, but recovered her composure, "So everyone is already predisposed to think I'm some sort of...sex-kitten?"

Barricade managed to keep from sputtering. "_You_ don't have wings. Seekers have extra sensors on their wings to detect wind currents and atmospheric pressure. It also makes their wings an incredibly erogenous area. Some think that's why Sideswipe and his brother's jet-judo works so well...they forget to fly as soon as their wings are grabbed." he surmised. "You don't need to worry about being taken advantage of, however. No one here will take my protection lightly. Core processor protocol demands help defend you, now."

Eve batted her eyes up at her SIC, and asked slyly, "But who's going to protect me from you?"

Barricade swore Evelyn had some sort of death-wish.


	4. Hey, Mister, I Really Like Your Daughter

The following story is a fanfiction of a fanfiction. This means it s an AU of an AU. Transformers belongs to hasbro and the rest to e-dowley. Please read Out of Necessity before reading this... other fanon tidbits from various forgotten sources are also included.

Chapter title is from song of the same name

Mother Necessity

Chapter 2

Hey, Mister, I Really Like Your Daughter

The Autobot Chief Medical Officer, The CMO, Ratchet, affectionately known to his peers as "Hatchet", waited at the gates with a handful of his curious comrades. The pit had apparently frozen over as his Neutral-party opposite number, Knockout was bending his pride to seek him for a consult...and he was bringing Evelyn in to help Ratchet render a second opinion. This would prove interesting if worrying as his sort-of creation was coming of her own volition instead of waiting to be bawled-out by Ratchet until giving in and making an appointment. She evidently was refusing to take Knockout at his word over something or other and needed Ratchet's expertise...rather wise of her, Ratchet thought. He liked to think his coding from his nanites were responsible for the better part of her good judgement, but even he would say she had coding from way too many sources to determine that with any finality.

Ratchet still had to wonder, though. What kind of diagnosis was so unbelievable that Evelyn would come running to him? She sounded fine, if tired, in her communication, so cascading system failure was unlikely. Ratchet had _personally_ shut down all non-essential systems himself before she even on-lined for the first time to save her comparatively weak spark undue power drain. If one of those had been reactivated by that dumb-aft ex-con Knockout Ratchet swore he was going to introduce the red menace to his wrench and then weld the mech's face and aft together. Eve's spark had been converted most likely from an actual human soul in what had to be an act of Primus and God both. While sufficient to spark life in her frame, it was nowhere _near_ powerful enough for a sensor array, much less a transformation drive. Eve's bizarre construction provided coding for many upgrades besides those. Who knew a scraplet had that kind of memory? It _had_ to be one of those detritus lines of code causing problems, bringing her to Ratchet with both Knockout _and_ Barricade in tow...so to speak. Barricade still warranted a minor security emergency, neutral or not. If _that _wasn't bad enough they were likely still going to be here when Sam Witwicky got here with Bumblebee and his growing family. Ratchet hoped Barricade behaved himself. It wouldn't do to cause Carly any undo stress right now.

Shouting at the gates let Ratchet know that they had arrived...they had chosen to travel by ground as Knockout didn't fly and he insisted Eve not risk herself in her seekers' hands in her current physical state. Both Neutrals alt modes pulled up to Ratchet's med-bay and transformed after Eve left Knockout's cab. Ratchet became very curious. Was Eve traveling in Knockout for medical reasons, or was Barricade in dis-favor with her? Or was the flirty medic _in favor._ Ratchet felt he would get his answers soon enough. Without a word Ratchet showed Evelyn into his domain , leaving the other two to wait outside.

Ratchet gently picked Evelyn up and set her on his work table. Knockout had said she would require a full spark exam but hadn't said why. Scanning her before-hand had a remote chance of skewing any results so he wisely opted for visual diagnosis.

"Evelyn, I need to pop the closures on your chest to look directly at your spark,"He paused for her to acknowledge his statement, "you will need to remove your upper garments for this. And I will need you to hold out your right arm for this"

Eve hesitated but determinedly followed instructions. Ratchet pressed down suddenly on eve's right arm exposing what looked quite similar to a USB port and also a USB cable. Eve touched the cable pulling the cable out a little before letting it go to automatically retract. She tried this a couple times.

"So _this _is the infamous hard-line?" she asked fascinated.

Ratchet nodded, "Yes, but _do_ stop playing with it or you'll go blind," he joked, chuckling as Eve, horrified, let go for the last time.

"I swear, that wasn't what I was trying to do..." She stopped too embarrassed to continue.

Ratchet took pity on her, "I was only joking, but the cable in your arm is used for intimate contact even more often than it is used for medical overrides. In human culture I would compare it to heavy petting and making out on a table."

"I'm not hearing this," She mumbled with an uncharacteristic blush.

"Well, you need to. It is very obvious you hadn't learned it on your own and with the sort of mech's you spend time with, interface education really should have been attended to before you left my med bay after your reconstruction. I, as your original physician and semi-creator, should have told you the details of interface and spark-merge...and their probable consequences. You are the only mature femme on earth. Your little spy is still a youngling and will remain so for what is likely to be centuries with the trauma of her siblings' and creator's demise,"

"You know about Buzzsaw!"

"You bring her with you often enough, but she is not what I wish to discuss."Ratchet unlatched his arm and extracted his own cable, "Every mech and femme has a cable and a port on both arms...except, of course, in your case. Now, as a medic, I would use them to do my job when administering a necessary medical override rebooting a glitched out mech or rewriting code..though that last is best left to a specialist. In private, I would use it like any other bot to connect with a partner and exchange data. I would compare to humans stimulating a partner by touch or orally..."

"I came here for an exam, not _'The Talk',_" Evelyn growled out.

"Too bad," Ratchet continued smoothly, "This sort of stimulation usually result in the closures over your spark opening of their own volition. When, that happens, you are ready for spark-merge...Which compares to vaginal penetration in humans."

"Kill me now." Eve buried her face in her hands.

Ratchet ignored her, "What then follows looks mostly like a hug to a human but is an incredibly erotic action to our kind. Only the coronas touching is really necessary for our version of conception, but some prefer to go further and merge fields..." Ratchet paused and gave her a long hard look, "Be very sure before you go _That_ far. Total spark-merge usually results in a permanent bond between two of our kind...like marriage but not _nearly_ as reversible." Ratchet pulled his cable toward her. "hold out your arm and lets get a look at your spark."

"You are _soo_ damn lucky I'm not armed," Eve grumbled even as she complied.

With the connection made, Ratchet fell silent to access first her self diagnostic system, she'd apparently slept on the trip and eaten with energon given that her levels were high...but they were dropping far faster than they absolutely should have been. He accessed her internal logs. She was in recharge for ten hours a day _and_ was apparently now consuming undiluted energon. Ratchet checked for damage from overcharging her systems...nothing. She was _using_ the energy fast enough to prevent power surges. But, for_ what?_ Ratchet wished he could have scanned her. Her reserves were barely holding steady, she was easily fatigued, and she possessed irregular spark- pulses. Half her energy was being rerouted elsewhere, but Ratchet couldn't trace it past her spark. He prayed briefly to Primus that her spark wasn't pulling the extra energy to keep from sputtering out. Ratchet checked the rest of her systems in the seconds he made the hard-line connection before identifying as releasing her inadequate chest plating. Her sternum pushed forward as Ratchet disconnected. After it extended about an inch from her chest it split from top to bottom and each half moved to the side to give a two-inch wide access point to her one-inch spark which lay dead center in her chest, just to the left of her metal heart.

"Please lay back, facing straight up with your arms at your side while I examine your spark directly...There should be no sensation of pain, but I need you to keep me informed throughout the examination." Ratchet was clinically formal to make the experience emotionally distinct from any true intimate encounters in her future.

"Knockout said only one layer of armor is not enough to keep spark energy from reaching another spark. Don't you medics risk something around femmes in the course of your work"

Ratchet rapped on his own chest plate, "Medics have special double plating. It serves many purposes, but shielding for two is definitely one of them. It is also helpful for choosing larger alt modes and carrying patients off to be treated. Thicker armor makes a kill shot less likely."

Ratchet leaned forward and super-focused his optics at her spark...and stopped cold. Ratchet stood up quickly tapping her lightly to start her closure procedures to shut her chest back. Ratchet tossed her shirt back at her and stormed out of the med bay grabbing his largest wrench on the way out. The autobot medic was absolutely livid. That glitch-aft excuse for a colleague hadn't bothered to tell him exactly _what_ he was supposed to offer a second opinion on. Ratchet had nearly pulled a "Prowl" and glitched out when he finally discovered what was the matter with Evelyn. As Ratchet spotted the two neutrals just outside his med bay and the small crowd of curious mechs who had gathered nearby. someone was going to pay for this fiasco. Eve wasn't ready, wasn't able, to make any informed decisions on the matter of interfacing, and either the flirty medic or her long-time companion was responsible for her current condition. Many mechs flinched as Ratchet roared.

"**_How the fragging pit did this_ happen?** How the frag did Eve end up sparked up?" He eyed both the stiffly stoic hunter and the visibly terrified medic. The crowd nearby broke into dissonant chatter amongst themselves.

"Don't look at me!" Knockout quickly defended...and pointed accusingly at Barricade, effectively throwing him under the figurative bus,"_I'M _not the one who's been _sleeping _with her!" Knockout said earning a completely disgusted glare which promised _much_ pain from Barricade.


	5. Baby, Baby

The following story is a fanfiction of a fanfiction. This means it s an AU of an AU. Transformers belongs to hasbro and the rest to e-dowley. Please read Out of Necessity before reading this... other fanon tidbits from various forgotten sources are also included.

Mother Necessity

Chapter 5

Baby, Baby

It was a testament to Ratchet's reputation as a mech not to be trifled with that Barricade felt somewhat intimidated. Ratchet, however, was an _Autobot_. This meant he probably had some sense of fair play and, most likely, wouldn't kill him until he had the whole story. After that,...well, he could certainly _try_.

"The working theory, as Eve has never bared her spark, is that our habit of sleeping in close proximity caused the current situation. We _mistakenly believed_,..." and here Barricade fixed his glare on Ratchet himself, "that if any problems with this arrangement were likely, you would have pointed them out to us when you saw us do it."

Ratchet rocked back on his heals. Despite that rather obvious attempt to shift blame, the explanation made sense. He grimaced. In fact, if that was how the new-spark formed, then it probably was his fault, at least in part. Knockout didn't have half his expertise and experience, and Eve had slept on the ex-con's chest in Ratchet's view with no greater reaction from him than amusement. What in Primus's name was he thinking? Eve's concern about armor thickness made sense now. It was a miracle she hadn't already been pregnant at the battle of Chicago...or had she? It would go far to explain Barricade's automatic possessiveness of her, and his lack of true hostility to the prospect of being seen showing true tenderness for the little femme. Growling and snarling, yes...but no outright attacks as was usual for the fractious interrogator. After all, Barricade's reputation was as well earned as Ratchet's own. Ratchet turned on his heel motioning the two mechs to follow him back inside where they could continue the consult in relative privacy. Ratchet realized, to his chagrin, that he had probably blown their chances of keeping the whole thing on the down-low. In less than an hour, Eve and Barricade's impending parenthood might even reach the Decepticon base. Chances were, it would only make hostilities with the neutrals that much more unthinkable. Broody femmes were notorious...a broody Eve could potentially be disastrous. Ratchet and the others gathered around the berth on which Eve sat. She was once again fully dressed and was apparently ready to climb off the berth.

Ratchet sighed,"Well, this situation is fragged up beyond repair. Eve, I can confirm that you are _definitely_ carrying. I have to run more tests before I can tell you how long you've been this way. And I must run them soon if they are going to be accurate. The margin of error will be too large about ten years into gestation to give any kind of accurate report on the conception date."

Eve pulled a face,"You guys have a really fucked up sense of what 'soon' means. Knockout told me pregnancy doesn't last long an then stated that mine would last an entire millennium. Doesn't my being born human mean anything for how long this pregnancy will last? I do have flesh, you know. Won't the baby?"

Ratchet shook his head,"We call them sparklings...and, no. The little mech can only derive coding from coding. Your coding exclusively if you don't choose to hook-up to Barricade for some of his. Coding is what determines what he will look like, and your organic parts' DNA doesn't count." Ratchet eyed the clawed hand of the expectant mech-creator supporting Eve from behind even as he scooped the femme up. Barricade's creator bond was clearly functional. Ratchet continued, "It is generally healthier for the sparkling to have two parents worth of coding to choose from. A Cybertronian whose creator only uses their own coding might still have a perfectly functioning offspring, but they often have some odd...quirks." Ratchet turned to Eve, "You remember Prowl?"

Her eyes widened, "Oh, yeah. I remember. I am definitely going to get some different coding for the kid! Especially since doing otherwise seems to be the Cybertronian version of inbreeding!"

Ratchet raised an eyebrow,"Actually,...oh, never mind. It's as good a comparison as anything." He shook his head as the other mechs snickered at the absent Prowl's expense.

"You're having the sparkling, then?" Barricade queried carefully.

Eve shrugged, "It's not like I can do anything for a long time...by human standard's...anyway." She looked away, "after that long a time, I will have definitely started thinking of him as a person, an _innocent._ I won't be _able_ to terminate then. He'll have grown on me...like _you_ did now that I think of it."she grinned.

Barricade scoffed, but didn't move to drop her. He vaguely wondered if the protocols would ever give him a chance to be himself. He doubted it. The creator protocols were as old as Cybertron, passed from Primus, himself, and supposedly proof that he loved his creations. If one believed that religious clap-trap.

Ratchet cocked his head as he received a private comm. "Oh, _scrap_!" he glanced at his guests.

"What is it?" Eve asked. It was Barricade who answered her.

"The_ Bug_ and his_ Insects_ are here," he sneered, checking his sensors.

"_Bumblebee_ and the young _Witwicky family_ are here," Ratchet corrected. "Carly is also expecting. She, however, is much farther along in the process than you."

Barricade noticed an expression of pure mischief cross Eve's face. Moments like that reminded him why he tolerated her for so long.

"I haven't seen him in a long while. You say he has a kid on the way, too? Boy or girl?"

"Boy. They have chosen the name 'Daniel'. Carly's body is quite distorted right now. At least you won't have to worry about that." At Eve's confused expression, Ratchet clarified, "The 'baby bump' doesn't develop with femmes. Human females change shape to accommodate the growing child, Cybertronian femmes don't have any parts that stretch so our sparklings fold into our cometary forms as they grow within the femme creator. When they leave the gestation chamber they unfold into mech form. It will be his first transformation, and the only one that will not require a transcan."

Ratchet opened his med bay doors to put the infamous yellow camaro in everyone's view. Sam got out first after the young Autobot opened his door _very reluctantly_. The man rushed to the passenger side to help his pretty, if ungainly, wife out of the seat. As soon as she was out, Bumblebee transformed and gave the hairy eye to the former Decepticons as Clint Eastwood's voice filled the silence, _"Go ahead. Make my day."_

Barricade huffed in amusement and Knockout failed to hold back a rather girly snicker. The bug had it _bad_ if _his_ protocols were activating just for a fleshling.

Sam was questioning Ratchet on his guests when Knockout announced that Eve had to go back to base for recharge for her offspring's sake if not her own, making Sam stop mid-sentence his eyes growing comically wide.

"You're pregnant too?" He glanced at Barricade, and then back at Eve, "The father human or...?"his words seemed to stick in his throat as if he couldn't imagine what it would take for a giant robot alien and a cyborg to procreate.

"Me and Barricade are going to be _parents."_ Eve seemed to enjoy his discomfort.

"How did..." he trailed off in a squeak before he could finish the question.

Eve, suddenly sporting the most evil grin Barricade had ever seen her wear, (and he had seen her wear many) leveled an amused stare straight at the young man, "You asking for the juicy details?"

Sam vehemently shook his head, no. Carly, however, was curious.

"I know how I got pregnant. But I didn't know Cybertronians could procreate without that cube thing Sam told me about."

Ratchet huffed, "Of course we can. But it takes a great deal more time. Eve will be carrying that sparkling for more than a thousand years as you measure time."

"Yeah," Eve sighed, "otherwise our kids might have played together. As things stand, every human here will have been dead for centuries."

Carly raised an eyebrow, "I can't even_ imagine_ being pregnant that long. I can't wait for this one to be born. I'm tired of having to waddle around and needing Sam's help just to visit the loo."

Eve grinned, "Oh, you missed it. Ratchet just got finished informing me that I will have no baby bump and that means I, at least, get to stay ambulatory."

Carly stared blandly at the other woman,"I am _so _jealous. I hate you so much right now." Both women dissolved into giggling as both future fathers observed, baffled by their females' behavior. Carly calmed, "so how does a... person in your situation go about conception? I'm really curious." Sam put his finger's in his ears and began to hum.

Eve fixed her attention on his wife, "Apparently, it's as simple as spark energy from a mech bombarding a femme spark. It's almost an immaculate conception, I'd say. The chances of it happening the way we did it were so slim, none of the medics warned me it was possible."

Eve yawned as Carly nodded, satisfied with the answer as she yanked hard on Sam's arm to get him to stop humming and rejoin the grown-ups. The Neutrals left he med-bay and headed for the gates.

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**A/N** I apologize for the delay on this chapter. I finally got a lead on a job(I've been unemployed for almost 21 months) They told me I was hired, but the city of Detroit put a stop work order on the apartment building I was supposed to end up managing, so the position evaporated before I even got started. I finally have another job interview tomorrow, and not a moment too soon. My next unemployment payment is the last I qualify for.


	6. The End Is The Beginning Is The End

I have no real excuse. In fact the only reason I even got off my butt and updated this is because I already had this last chapter planned….(yes, it's a really long prologue to another story I had in mind. ) and also I wanted to start a different fic…a Harry Potter –Deadpool crossover, and I won't begin one writing project if I haven't completed the first…so here it is. Pity it's not mine and I can't make money off it.

**The End Is The Beginning Is The End**

Eve chose to nap on the way home, as well. It was the best way to let the time pass more quickly as they crossed the country for the second time. It was halfway into their journey home that Barricade slammed his brakes coming to a skidding stop side by side with Knockout.

"What the hell?" Eve was jostled awake swearing. She spotted the problem immediately.

In the middle of nowhere, right in their path was a huge truck and a bizarre sportscar.

"Cybertronian," Barricade rumbled,

Eve was on instant alert, and out his door. Barricade unfolded into bipedal mode in a violent rush that would have made her and Knockout wince if she weren't as busy staring at the two unknowns and Knockout was busy transforming as well.

"I am Eve, leader of the neutral faction on Earth. State your designations, faction, and purpose for waylaying us here!"

At first, Eve thought she would get no response. The seconds ticked by like minutes. Then, suddenly, the larger of the two spoke.

"We mean you no harm. We stopped you here because your group was most likely to verify the truth before attacking us as imposters."

"We come from the future," the smaller one explained. "We had to give the residents of this planet sufficient warning for the danger ahead. I am the future version of neutral party CMO, Knockout, and this old mech next to me is CMO of New Cybertron Mars Colony, Ratchet, former Autobot CMO."

The two mechs transformed. Sure enough, the larger was a medbot of the upper mid-range size category….like Ratchet. The other was also a medbot, a midnight-blue version of Knockout. Eve had a sinking feeling even before Barricade lunged at the big one.

Perhaps the bots should have let this statement sink in before transforming to the more combat ready bipedal forms, because Barricade, stressed and and still adjusting to creator protocols pinned the large mech leaving knockout to face-off against the one who claimed to be _him._

"A likely story," Barricade growled, "I used a similar trick to kill_ a lot_ of Autobots once. Why would they only send _the two of you_ and not someone actually _important_?"

Barricade was suddenly knocked off his feet. A third mech had appeared from above. He was of a size with Barricade. He possibly even stood a little taller on his digitigrade feet, which somehow pinned Barricade's left arm and torso to the ground. The new mech's clawed servos held Barricade's right arm up to discharge his weapon harmlessly into the air. It was as if the mech's sheer weight alone held him down. And it did. The new mech, an obvious flyer with seeker legs studded with wheels like Optimus or Ironhide, wore a medbot sigil on his massive armor. He probably weighed twice what Barricade did. When the new arrival was sure Barricade couldn't move, he stole a glance at Evelyn. He had four eyes like Barricade….but Autobot blue in color. The look on his face held a certain serenity and she felt it in her core that he meant no harm to her or the fractious mech he was even now pinning to the ground.

"I don't believe it," red Knockout breathed, transfixed, "a triple-changing, full armored medbot. Types like him and Makeshift only happen when a grounder and a seeker, one of them a medbot, produce a sparkling. "

"My designation is Wardance," he rumbled in a voice so deep it almost wouldn't completely register to human ears. "I am the third member of the team sent sixty million years back in time to help all of you." His head swiveled to Barricade's scowling visage, "In answer to your query, only medbots had the shielding necessary to survive the trip. Only Bots that existed in this time could travel to it, and even I barely qualify as a contemporary of this time. Also, who's to say that in such a long time we are not among the more important citizens? Ratchet is as much a statesman as a medic, and I was trained in combat by veterans of the very war you are only now finishing, the war that nearly wiped our race out." Wardance gave a dramatic pause, ignoring the blue Knockout making a noise rather like a human clearing his throat, and added, "And Knockout is obviously our comedy relief."

Blue Knockout interrupted, prissily, as Barricade and the alleged older Ratchet chuffed amusedly, "I'm beginning to wish we'd arrived a few years earlier and prevented your sparking! " He turned to his other self and gestured to Wardance, "you did wonder what Eve and Barricade's brat would turn out like."

Wardance let Barricade up as if he thought Barricade wouldn't resume fighting….and he was right. Barricades sensors confirmed attunement of the heavier mech's spark to Barricade's. They were definitely related.

Barricade was shocked into silence. Wardance was _their sparkling?_ Now that it was pointed out to him it was extremely obvious. Eve must have got coding from him at some point because there was obviously _a lot_ of him in this mech's appearance, bearing and even his fighting style. His eyes were shaped like Barricade's but colored like hers. He had seeker legs but also had a ground terrain alt mode if the wheels were anything to judge by. Few could have matched him in a fight and fewer immobilized him without causing damage. This mech, Wardance, could have gotten _Megatron's_ respect. There was also something else….something that seemed to project a sense of peace to everyone present.

"Young Wardance is a potential Prime. He has Prime coding derived from Eve's latent coding she received from the scraplet. Right now she can't utilize it to its full potential in her present form. Eve, if you are not to fail against the Quintessons, you need to allow the three of to begin the process of converting you to full Cybertronian so that, like your son, you may inspire the survivors of our race as a Prime in your own right. With Optimus, Wardance, and _**You**_, the quintessons will never gain an advantage over Humanity. Necessity is the mother of innovation, to paraphrase a popular Earth phrase."

Ratchet's words left the other group speechless….well, _almost._

"Ah, _shit!"_ Eve swore.

To be continued in _**Mother Superior**_

And so ends my little bridge piece between edowley's "necessary" series And my "mother" series….I hope you like….

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